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Oil or Gas

They heat the same water and they are not the same machine to own. The differences show up in the service regime, in the fuel supply, and in what federal efficiency rules require.

In brief

Oil and gas boilers have different service regimes, different consumables, different minimum efficiencies under DOE rules, and one of the two has a fuel tank attached. Which you have decides the maintenance interval as much as it decides the repair.

Source: US Department of Energy, Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Boilers.

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The consumables

An oil burner atomises fuel through a nozzle, draws it through a filter and lights it with electrodes. All three are consumable and all three are replaced or checked at the annual service. A gas burner has none of them.

That is the practical difference in ownership: oil forces an annual appointment, gas does not.

The fuel supply

Oil arrives by delivery into a tank you own, which means a tank, a gauge, a fill point and a supply line to look after — and a run-out is a no-heat call that no amount of servicing prevents. Gas arrives continuously by pipe or from a propane tank.

What DOE requires of each

The federal minimums differ by fuel and by whether the system is hot water or steam:

Boiler type	Minimum AFUE
Gas-fired hot water	84%
Gas-fired steam	82%
Oil-fired hot water	86%
Oil-fired steam	85%

DOE also attaches design requirements: no constant-burning pilot on gas-fired units, and an automatic means for adjusting water temperature on both gas-fired and oil-fired hot water boilers.

Source: US Department of Energy, Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Boilers.

What the choice does not change

Both burn fuel indoors, so both can produce carbon monoxide when combustion or venting goes wrong, and CPSC’s guidance applies identically to both. Alarms on every level, and annual professional service.

Source: US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Carbon Monoxide Fact Sheet.

A boiler is not a furnace, and the person you want knows the difference.Tell us it is a boiler, tell us what the gauge reads if you can see it, and we will route you to somebody in your area who works on them. You are never charged. Boilers give this site its name and not its limits.

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